The Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) has launched its inaugural ‘AI 4 Belia’ programme, designed to equip Malaysian youth with artificial intelligence (AI) skills for future workforce challenges.
Science Minister Chang Lih Kang said the initiative aims to foster Science, Technology and Innovation (STI), with a particular focus on AI adoption among Malaysians, especially youth.
“This programme is important to give exposure to participants, especially the youth, regarding the use of AI in facing the challenges of the future job market and making Malaysia more competitive,” Chang said at the programme’s launch at Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI).
“The active participation of youth in initiatives like this is an important step in preparing them to face future challenges, especially in the high-tech job sector.”
The programme’s first station in Tanjung Malim attracted 100 participants through a collaboration between UPSI and Pixlr.
“Young people are the successors in developing Malaysia in the future, and they are also pioneers of future jobs in fields such as Artificial Intelligence Engineering, Robotics, Cyber Security Agents, Blockchain Technology and so on,” Chang explained.
“Additionally, AI is seen as being able to help youth in pursuing careers as innovation entrepreneurs or tech entrepreneurs because AI helps young people involved in business to analyse data, plan product marketing, and optimise operations with existing resources.”
The minister expressed confidence that incrementally building youth knowledge and awareness of AI would better prepare Malaysia’s next generation for future technological challenges.
“As a result, our youth will not only become smart AI users but also leaders in creating innovations that leverage this technological advancement for the development of the nation,” he said. “This is in line with the aspiration to make Malaysia a leading technology development country by 2030.”
The launch event featured a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signing between UPSI, represented by Faculty of Computing and Meta-Technology dean Associate Professor Dr Maizatul Hayati Mohamad Yatim, and Pixlr, represented by group executive officer Warren Leow.
